Students today seem to have more sensitive, traumatic issues than ever before. But sometimes the drills we do — active shooter drills, for example — can cause their own type of trauma. Some kids might even need to opt out of some of those drills. Child trauma psychologist, Dr. Steven Berkowitz helps us understand children and trauma. This episode will help us all be more sensitive to the emotional needs of students and parents who have been through some tough issues.
Sometimes we need to talk about hard, unpleasant things. We learn what to do because we love children and we want to do right by them. But there are also some things that come up in this discussion about conducting code blue drills. For example, do you practice your parent notification system as part of the drill? Do you tell parents? We touch on these and more issues relating to childhood trauma and active shooter drills in schools.
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Classtag: A Tool to Help with Parent Support
[callout]Parents and teachers need to be partners. Bring parents in the loop. Be intentional to help parents know how to support your classroom. That’s one of the things that caught my attention about a new app called ClassTag.
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Class Tag’s primary focus is turning parents into partners. They’ve developed a tool for strengthening and deepening the support parents give teachers from home. At the heart of the tool is a system for effortlessly showing parents how to give you the support you and your student need. I’ll tell you more about this tool in the coming weeks. Check it out now. [/callout]
Show Notes:
What are some thoughts about how active shooter and “code blue” drills should be done?
What kinds of things do teachers need to be aware of with children who have been through traumatic incidents?
What conditions should assist students to be allowed to opt out of certain drills at schools?
What does Dr. Berkowitz wish teachers knew about students who have experienced trauma?
- Previous show with Dr. Berkowitz “How Do We Talk to Children About Terrorism?”.
- Superhero themed funeral for Jacob Hallmentioned in the show
Who is Dr. Steven Berkowitz
Dr. Steven Berkowitz is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine. He is the Director of the Penn Center for Youth and Family Trauma Response and the Co-chair of the Disaster and Trauma Issues of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He has responded to many mass casualty events and has written extensively on the topic of childhood trauma.
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